The proposed research has two specific aims: 1) an evaluation of several different measures of alcohol consumption behaviors and changes in these behaviors as potential risk factors of the development of specific cardiovascular diseases in men; and 2) a description of the immediate and long-term effects of a newly diagnosed cardiovascular disease on drinking behaviors in men. Previous propsective studies have demonstrated that moderate drinkers have lower coronary heart disease rates than nondrinkers and that heavier drinkers have a higher incidence of hypertension than nondrinkers. Multiple measures of drinking behaviors including frequency and variability of drinking, "binge" drinking, specific beverage consumption and problems with drinking, as well as changes in these behaviors, have not been simultaneously considered in assessing prospectively the risk of specific cardiovascular diseases. Male volunteers in the Normative Aging Study, a longitudinal study of aging, have responded to two detailed drinking surveys in in 1973 and 1982. These men have also reported for uniform physical exminations every 3-5 years at which systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol, cigarette smoking, medication history and cardiovascular health status have been assessed. The proposed study will use multivariate techniques for survival analysis such as proportional hazards models to assess the relationship of specific drinking behaviors assessed in 1973 to the subsequent development of hypertension, angina pectoris, nonfatal myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease, coronary death and all-cause mortality. Known cardiovscualar risk factors will be considered in analyses. Similar techniques will be used to assess the effects of changes in drinking behaviors between 1973 and 1982 on the risk of subsequent cardiovascular diseses. The exent to which the devlopment of cardiovascular disease leads men to moderate their drinking behaviors is unknwon. By interviewing approximately 1500 men over age 40 who are participants in the Normative Aging Study it will be possible to assess the relative impact of cardiovascular disease on changes in drinking behaviors, compared to the impact of retirement, bereavemet and divorce. It is hypothesized that development of hypertension or ischemic heart disease will tend to moderate heavier consumption, "binge" and problem drinking. Poor cardiovascular health may be a factor contributing to the often-observed finding of more nondrinkers and fewer drinkers with problems among the elderly.